No one should be forced to endure winter in a tent, particularly in Europe. But that鈥檚 the reality facing tens of thousands of refugees stranded in camps across Greece.
Photographs of 31 men, women, girls and boys, united by stories of displacement and disjuncture, formed the basis of a moving exhibit hosted by the 探花精选 at the Union Club, Soho. They represent the 45,000 refugees in Greece who are preparing for plummeting temperatures this winter as they wait for their asylum applications to be processed.
The photos were taken in Kara Tepe refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, by photographer . Game of Thrones actors Lena Headey and Indira Varma joined the 探花精选 for the event, having recently made visits to 探花精选 programmes in Greece and Serbia.
Lena visited refugee camps in Lesbos along with fellow Game of Thrones actors Liam Cunningham and Maisie Williams in June earlier this year, and met many of the refugees participating in the exhibition.
鈥淚t sounds kind of trite, but this could be us," Lena explained. "Who knows tomorrow, with the state of politics around the world, what will happen in the next few years?鈥
Indira joined the 探花精选 for a visit to Serbia in November, where thousands of refugees remain stranded following the closing of borders along the Balkan route. 鈥淎ll these stories, all these people, are valid鈥 she remarked. 鈥淭hey are on the move for a reason.鈥
Explaining the concept behind the project of photographing refugees and asking them about their dreams, photographer Tara Todras-Whitehill explained: 鈥淭he idea of looking at these people, looking into their eyes and understanding that we are the same is really important.鈥
A compiling the refugees鈥 testimonies was released on Human Rights Day, on December 10th.
